The Road Home
by Yimou Zhang
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bin Li, Hao Zheng, Honglei Sun, Yulian Zhao, Ziyi ZhangDirector: Yimou Zhang
Brand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: Mandarin Chinese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 89 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-11-27
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Movie Reviews of The Road Home
Movie Review: A bowl, a red jacket, a barrette, mushroom dumplings . . .
Summary: 5 Stars
Initially (I'd only recently discovered Zhang Ziyi) I was doubtful: the cover illustration gave me the impression that it's a children's story, for children. On the other hand, though, were others' reviews, so I couldn't quite put it out of mind. Finally, after passing it over a half-dozen times or so, I decided -- still doubting and hesitant -- to buy it on the strength of Zhang Ziyi's acting in other films. I'll not attempt to detail the "plot," or incidents in it -- others have done that with varying degrees of accuracy.
It is not a children's story.
At the end of my first viewing I was speechless. Though a published writer, I could find no words to describe, or represent, or capture what it is, what it does. I've since lost count of how many times I've watched it -- spellbound. I've struggled to find the words with which to write adequate review; but as that has seemed impossible, only added comments to other reviews. This is the best I've been able to do:
Elementally human.
Humane.
Universal.
Exquisitely gentle.
Eventually I put it back into its case and onto the shelf. But the very next day I had to put it back into the DVD player. How can so moving a story be made of a few ordinary, inconsequential materialities? --
An old chipped and stained -- but favorite -- bowl, both imbued with and vessel for an innocent, open, generous heart.
A red jacket.
A barrette.
Mushroom dumplings.
By some incomprehensible magic.
The film itself, to the eye -- every frame a painting. I don't know that I've ever seen another so perfectly realized, both perfectly balanced contrasts of crisp black-and-white, and splendid countless soft colors of autumn.
The expert use of lines -- hills, trees, mountains . . .
One road to and from a tiny village, which seems most often to run in only one direction: from.
It is an extremely rare film which one forgets has a camera present. Even when I consciously reminded myself there was -- that understanding almost immediately evaporated.
Flawless acting, especially by the shapeless girl/young woman in pigtails and baggy trousers.
A gift from those who made it, beyond the reach of all deserved, humbled, reverent superlatives. Special as a barrette, as mushroom dumplings.
You need to own your own -- widescreen -- copy. And a multi-disk DVD player as vessel for it -- so you needn't remove it when you want to watch some other film.
Summary of The Road Home
As a son arranges for the burial of his father at his mothers request the touching story of his parents courtship unfolds. In the days of arranged marriages he learns that theirs was the first based on love. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 11/27/2001 Starring: Zhang Ziyi Run time: 89 minutes Rating: GAt the start of the most recent film from Chinese director Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Dou, Shanghai Triad), a young man returns to his native village after the death of his father, the village's schoolteacher, who died while trying to raise money for a new schoolhouse. His body is in a neighboring town; the young man's mother insists that it be brought back on foot, lest his spirit not find his way home. From this starting point, the young man recounts the tale of his parents' courtship, which involved a red banner, mushroom dumplings, a colorful barrette, and a broken bowl. The Road Home is beautifully filmed, particularly the luminous face of Zhang Ziyi (from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), whose performance is a heartrending portrait of hope and yearning. A simple but deeply emotional film. --Bret Fetzer
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